International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

Nonprofit Issues:

Animals

Address:

PO Box 8187 San JoseCA95155USA

Mission:

To conserve and protect wildlife and habitat through wildlife rehabilitation. The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) has worked since 1972 to support wildlife and provide resources for wildlife rehabilitators. Today, IWRC is comprised of veterinarians, rehabilitators, conservationists, and other professionals from around the world, all committed to restoring the health, ensuring the welfare, and safeguarding the future of wildlife.

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Reviews for International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

I have been a member of the IWRC for 2 years now and the people I have met through this organization have been well-rounded in this field. The board of directors members have been very helpful to me and are quite dedicated to this organization. Coming from a veterinary background myself, I was a bit skeptical at first as to the content of their courses, hands-on labs and conferences but have to say that the science based approach and content was VERY satisfying. They have been nothing but helpful with me, guiding me in my volunteering work. The quality of speakers and topics at their last conference in BC, Canada was very thorough. I have always had feedback when renewing my membership, when registering to courses and to get my grades from online classes. My next challenge with them is to pass my CWR.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I have been a member for almost 15 years and of all the organizations that are available for Wildlife Rehabiltators, IWRC is the ONLY one that is 100% science based. That means that every class that is offered online or in person and every symposium that they host is reviewed for content, so all information taught is the most up-to-date and best, safest practices in the field of wildlife rehabilitation. Many other organizations do not go this extra mile and therefore much of what else is presented in this field is anecdotal and potentially unreliable, and can be misleading; unknowing wildlife rehabilitators may be ill-informed by another organization. But not IWRC, I always know that I can trust any presentation or publication backed by IWRC. In addition there staff is professional, respectful and reliable. I highly recommend IWRC to all wildlife rehabiltitators, in my opinion it's one of the only organizations in this field that can be trusted for professional training, expertise and helpful staff.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I've been a member of this organization for I think ten years or so. I love their magazine which has many great articles on wildlife rehabilitation. I wrote an article about squirrels for their magazines ten years ago or so. I hope to be able to make it to the next symposium.

How do you feel you were treated by this organization?

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I've been an on and off again member of IWRC for years. I was a member of IWRC around 2000-2005 and did not renew my membership for several years, and then decided to renew again in 2010-2011. I do have to say that IWRC is lacking in what it offers it's members. They do have a great mission and are a very small non-profit but I feel like a member who pays about $50 per year, really does not receive anything in return. Every now and then I may receive a member newsletter via email, but usually the information is not useful for me, and I am a currently active wildlife rehabilitator. IWRC seems to have lost its focus in the past couple of years. Around 2004 it seemed like they were focusing mostly on wildlife training, offering both in-person and online courses, and they even started a new certified wildlife rehabilitator program. Since then, it seem as if the CWR program is no longer in existence, and their training seems to have gone downhill. They do not offer as many in-person classes and they claim to be producing new online classes but it's been YEARS and not much has change d in terms of training. It looks like thye are now more focused on being more 'high tech' and 'online' with its new website, which to me doesn't offer anything useful. I don't think i'll be renewing my membership anymore.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

IWRC has a great mission however I feel that they do not offer much in terms of membership. I feel that out of all the non-profit orgs that I belong to, IWRC appears to not do so much. I've been a member for a couple of years now and it looks like their training and certification program is at a stand-still and they don't offer as many in-person classes like they used to. I may think twice before renewing my membership again.

If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...

In my experience, IWRC is a hard working organization that will not give up. We have a terrific new ED that is tenacious and dedicated.
Her commitment and energy make it fun to be part of the organization.
We are putting on a incredible conference in Albuquerque in October, our web site is going to be stupendous and we now have our journal online.
I would like to suggest that anyone who has any problems with IWRC to leave your name and number or email and as a board member I will personally respond and discuss any issues you may have.
Hope to hear from you.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Although this organization has been around for 30+ years, their staff and board of directors seem to not know what they are doing. Regardless of numerous attempts to get in contact with staff/BOD they never return calls. If you apply for membership, you receive nothing confirming that they received the funds. Very dissatisfied with service and the customer service I have had recently (April 2010) was HORRIBLE! I would not recommend becoming a member, at least not now. It used to be a much more organized non profit -- not sure what happened. According to them, they've had a change of staff -- no excuse!